The Houston Police Department is investigating an apparent homicide after a man was found dead in a ditch Sunday in northwest Houston.

The body was discovered in the 6400 block of Gold Street at Creston near Interstate 610 and the Hardy Toll Road.

HPD Homicide detectives spent the day at the scene. The body was found just before 9am near some railroad tracks.

Officers have been canvassing the area looking for clues, and they believe this is a murder. The cause of death has not been officially determined yet, but a shooting or stabbing are both under consideration as blood was found at the scene.

Neighbors didn't report hearing any gunshots, but if a passing train could have masked any specific noise.

Police are also considering that the man could have been killed at another location and the body dumped, but they don't believe he was here very long.

"Probably last night sometime. Here again, it's not necessarily to say he was shot at this location. He could have been dumped here," Det. Ramon Cervantes said. "As you can see here, it's not necessarily desolate; but the area where we found this individual, you can see where people have dumped things, and there's a portion of this area where it is somewhat desolate."

Investigators say the man's body was found by a family driving by. They first noticed his shoes.

"My brother recognized some shoes, and we slowed down and there was a body lying there," Larry Washington said.

"I told them it was a mannequin," Larry's brother, Orish Washington, said. "I didn't believe it was somebody."

The grim discovery has cast an eerie feeling on their neighborhood, especially among the family that had a very unexpected start to their Sunday morning.

"Scary," Larry Washington said. "Everybody is scared around here because we don't know exactly what went on."

"I might not sleep tonight," Orish Washington said.

The body has not been identified, but police said the man was black and in his early 20s.

This case remains under investigation. Anyone with information can call HPD Homicide or Crime Stoppers.